Tuesday, March 19, 2013

They may be playing their hockey on the west coast these days in the shadow of the Stanley Cup Kings, but the Anaheim Ducks aren't letting any moss grow between their webbed feet in the quest for their second Stanley Cup and bragging rights in Southern California.

Towards that end, the Ducks have been busy getting players signed on the dotted line, first with Ryan Getzlaf and now Corey Perry. Knocking the heck out of the free agency sweepstakes and by securing contracts with no move clauses, moving the Ducks out of the trading day deadline dramatics for the most part we would imagine.

The moves solidify the Ducks roster heading into the final portion of this shortened season and the playoff ramble to come.

While most have cast their gaze on the Chicago Blackhawks and their remarkable start, perhaps one of the most solid of performances this season comes from Anaheim, who have been taking to Bruce Boudreau's urgings quite nicely.

Providing for a season for the coach that takes away the sting of the last team that Boudreau was charged with, as the work ethic in Anaheim it seems is just a little more intense than that of DC.

Add on the help that Boudreau is getting from GM Bob Murray, who secured the top tier of Ducks in the Pond for a few more years, and Boudreau is surely finding all is well in the shadow of the Mouse and the Duck.

The Hawks of course remain their biggest obstacle, a juggernaut of a team that seems to have the rest of the West looking on in awe.

However, with a few solid pins secured in place, Anaheim is serving notice that Chicago will have to battle their way to the Stanley Cup.

Below some exclusive footage from the Ducks comptrollers office, explaining how carefully the Ducks are calculating their budget concerns.

Monday, March 18, 2013

For those that haven't seen it yet, TSN's version of the Buddy Film has made for much in viral rotation over the last few days.

The daily rapport between Roberto Luongo and Corey Schneider, made for a very funny video vignette from last Wednesday's TSN coverage of the Canucks and Predators.

Like Hope and Crosby, Crockett and Tubbs and hell, even Abbott and Costello, both of the Canucks' goaltenders are making the best of a rather drawn out goaltending situation and handling it all in not only good humour, but as we say with some fine acting...

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A well done feature and one that showcases the spirit of co-peration that the two have in Vancouver, attached at the hip until April it seems and maybe beyond...

Perhaps one of the most bizarre moments of the year so far in the NHL, as the enigmatic Sergei Kostitsyn picked one of the most unusual moments of last night's Oilers/Predators game to make a line change.

Suffice to say that Sergei probably didn't earn any bonus points on effort with the coach on Sunday.

Kostitsyn beaten to the puck in the neutral zone, decided rather than chase down Sam Gagner into the Predators end, he would rather uh, hey, let someone else worry about it... heading for the bench for a line change, one that didn't end so well for the Preds...

Needless to say, the line change was the subject of much discussion this Monday morning.

We suspect that his may be a name to watch for when the NHL Trade deadline arrives in April.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

A couple of wins for Vancouver's Canucks and all that talk of the need to have Alain Vigneault take the fall for his non performing hockey club seems to have settled down, for the moment.

Earlier this week, as the Canucks were stumbling out of their perch in the Northwest, the drums of dismissal were starting to sound on the west coast, with some of Vancouver's media having come to the decision that it was the coach that was the root cause of the Canucks' travails.

It's not the first time that the coach has gotta go theme has popped up, heck back on January 21st the Vancouver Observer had floated the idea that coaching change can come quickly, not bad considering that the ink probably wasn't even dry on the truncated 2013 schedule at that point.

The main problem at the moment for the coach under the glare of the spotlight, is that at times this season, his team is giving off the vibe that they may soon fit the profile of the coach killer team.

There was a bit of evidence that perhaps his team was tuning out his message of late, never a good thing for a coach, not to mention some mixed messaging from upper management with GM Mike Gillis throwing his thoughts into the mix on how the Canucks were not performing up to expectations.

Not to mention, that some secondary scoring and help on the blue line might have been on the scene if he had been able to figure out where he wants to go with his goaltending situation.

Having declared Schneider as the number one at the end of the last season, the Canucks have pretty well abandoned that theme, with either goaltender likely to appear on the ice come game time.

There may be cause to rethink the coaching and management decision making at the end of the season, with the Canucks seemingly having peaked a few years back, the plan for long term success in the Western Conference seems a little bit confusing to most, no doubt to the players on the bench.

But at the moment, with the Canucks still third overall in the West the concept of panic and dismissal seems a tad foolish.

Vancouver's sports media, like that of Montreal, Toronto and well, any other Canadian burg with an NHL team, seems to live for the thrill of the story, even if they have to create the buzz for it themselves.

It may help sell some of the newspapers and make for lively discuss on Vancouver's sports radio programming, but to throw a coach over the side heading towards the playoffs seems somewhat foolish.

Before the coach is told to pack his office up and join our list of departed coaches, perhaps the GM could get a little active on the trading floor, there are holes in the Canucks line up, some owing to injury some owing to disappointing play, some of that from players that the GM has brought into the fold.

Fixing those deficiencies should be the first task for Mr. Gillis, a coach normally is only as successful as the line up he has to work with and for much of this season, that line up has been a vague resemblance of the years that have just passed the Canucks by.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

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Deadspin offers up a tale of going that extra mile, lights a flashing, sirens a wailin' to get the baggage of five Florida Panther call ups to the rink in time for puck drop.

It would seem that not everyone in the Greater Miami area may be Panther fans (surprise, surprise, surprise we know), as some of the fall out from the cross county trek from airport to arena has left a few of Florida's taxpayers a tad unimpressed.

The Panthers are reimbursing the police force for gas and such for the off the books escort, though judging by the picture atop the Deadspin article, it would appear that even if offered, the lure of free tickets probably doesn't guarantee that the Police officers actually stick around the rink once the bags come out of the trunk...

Saturday, March 09, 2013

Hello out there, we're on the air, it's 'Hockey Night' tonight. Tension grows, the whistle blows, and the puck goes down the ice. The goalie jumps, and the players bump, and the fans all go insane. Someone roars, "Bobby Scores!" at the good old Hockey Game.

Oh, the good old hockey game, is the best game you can name. And the best game you can name, is the good old hockey game.

Second period

Where players dash, with skates aflash, the home team trails behind. But they grab the puck, and go bursting up, and they're down across the line. They storm the crease, like bumble bees, they travel like a burning flame. We see them slide, the puck inside, it's a 1-1 hockey game.

Chorus

Third Period

Last game of the playoff too.
Oh take me where, the hockey players, face off down the rinkAnd the Stanley Cup, is all filled up, for the champs who win the drink. Now the final flick, of a hockey stick, and the one gigantic scream. "The puck is in! The home team wins!", the good old hockey game.

The finale from the hockey family if you will, tonight's opening for Hockey Night in Canada, as perfect a conclusion to the national days of mourning, Saturday Night Hockey's Holy Night and Hockey Night Canada our collective chapel.

And the CBC did it up right on Saturday Night.
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The troubadour, born in St. John, New Brunswick, but claimed by communities from St. John's Newfoundland to Tofino BC and every hamlet in between, was one of the true Canadian icons and the measure of his resonance across the land could be found in the stories that were exchanged through this week.

Known for the wide catalogue of folk songs that triumphed the Canadian spirit and embraced everything Canadian, the tales of Bud the Spud, a Saturday Night in Sudbury or the soundtrack to a game played on ice but lived in homes across the land, his The Hockey Song possibly one of the most recognizable tunes of Canadian music.

And while Canadians will reflect on his passing with a measure of wonder over the simple genius of his songs and the reflection they found in them, his anthem of the sport we claim as ours will remain part of the scene for no doubt years to come.

Played to an appreciative audience nightly wherever it seems in this world that an arena can be found, it's a song which perhaps we will join in on the chorus with just a little more passion, now that we're left to carry the tune on our own.

And to give us a measure of the man he was, upon his passing, a note was released on his website, Thanking us for listening and sharing with him, passing the torch on to Canadians to sing the praises of the Country he was devoted to.

In the days since the announcement, there has been much talk of an appropriate salute for Stompin' Tom, talk of a state funeral, renaming roads and buildings, or holding some form of public celebration.

One obvious option would be the Canadian Juno Awards, which celebrate Canadian Music, though the Awards and Connors had a falling out a few years back. However, if Juno Organizers want some free advice, including a segment on the singer's vast works probably is a no-brainer, past history or not. (Juno people, You have been warned!)

However, the best we've heard so far, an honour that would surely symbolize what he meant to the game (and it to he) and one that would probably bring a smile to his face as he watches hockey from the great beer parlour in the sky,the prospect of enshrinement in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

As good an idea as there could be, so let's launch the campaign! Write the letters! Bombard the sports talk shows with the idea!

Monday, March 04, 2013

The quest for the NHL footprint in previously non-hockey markets has been a work in progress for years, dating back to the first expansion as a matter of fact and the westward march to California.

Along the way there have been hits and misses, some of the flags planted have tattered and eventually had to be taken down (Hello Kansas City, Hello Cleveland, Hello Atlanta x2).

Others were removed and never should have been, Bonjour Quebec, welcome back Winnipeg.

In others however, the jury is still deliberating as rows of empty seats on TV can testify towards (though we find it interesting that some markets report crowds of 15,000 plus while the video would suggest otherwise).

Rumblings continue as to other areas of concern, such as in Florida, where it seems many feel the next crisis point for the NHL may soon come home to roost.

Still, for the moment, the footings of the Bettman era of franchise security remain, with Nashville perhaps the one spot that the Commissioner can point towards as a team that keeps chugging along.

It wasn't all that long ago that many might have thought that the Predators were getting ready to back up the moving vans and migrating north, the destination of the day seemingly was to be Hamilton, with one time Blackberry king, Jim Balsillie ready to bring the much coveted second southern Ontario franchise home.

Grantland the most entertaining of online portals to come along in a while now, has a fascinating essay on the subject of the Predators, hockey, history and Nashville.

More than just a story about a hockey team seeking to find it's place, the article from David Hill takes us into the community rinks, onto the factory floor and explores how a game previously unknown to the region has grown much in the way of roots, most of them transplanted from the North.

It barely mentions the Predators or the NHL, instead it speaks of high school hockey, family and how the game is evolving in one particular outpost of the league.

We're pretty sure that the Commissioner is email links to one and all, it provides at least some proof that if given time, the game can grow in non traditional markets.

The Predators may or may not be a long term fixture for Nashville, the scale of economy both in hockey and in Tennessee, could one day lay waste to even the best of franchise planning. Ownership as we've seen over the years, is a fickle thing, one day steadfast and forward thinking, another desperately looking to get out.

But, for the moment, the imprint of hockey on Tennessee would seem to have been a success.

In fact, of the troubled franchises of recent times, Nashville seems to have done a pretty good job of balancing its financials and building up some loyalty in the community.

A story that offers a sunny break, in the midst of some dark looking clouds in other locales.

Saturday, March 02, 2013

The second edition of the NHL's three stars selections for the 2013 season have been announced as Steven Stamkos, Sidney Crosby and Ray Emery collect the accolades for February, the second month of the regular season.